Students, Faculty Survey Former Maytag Workers

Knox College students and faculty have joined with a group of former employees of Maytag's Galesburg Refrigeration Plant to survey hundreds of workers who lost their jobs when the plant closed in 2004.

"The survey will trace how people's lives have changed since the plant closed," said Marilyn Webb, chair of Knox's Journalism Program. "It focuses on job retraining, availability of new jobs, health, income, and individual and family well-being."

"We believe this is the first study of what happens to a particular group of people when a workplace such as Maytag closes," Webb said. "We selected 430 people at random from the list of 900 union employees who were let go when the plant closed in September 2004." Webb and her students began mailing the survey forms on August 2.

Three Knox students who have worked on the project this summer were awarded study stipends as Borzello Fellows in Journalism. The fellowships are supported by a gift to Knox from Robert Borzello, a 1958 Knox graduate and publisher in England noted for his work on ethics in news reporting.

The project grew out of a Knox College journalism course earlier this year, in which students profiled nine former Maytag employees. Several of the former employees formed an advisory group to help develop the survey questions. Read more about the survey.

From the Editors

Does Your Class Year End in a 0 or 5?

If you answered yes to the above question, then you are celebrating a Reunion at Homecoming 2010, October 22-24. Please plan to join your classmates to share memories of your years on campus and to enjoy more than 100 events sure to please alumni of all ages. And don't forget to fill out your Reunion Questionnaire -- even if you can't make it back to campus, your classmates want to know what you've been up to since graduation!

Prairie Fire Live

Want to cheer on the Prairie Fire but can’t make it back to campus? Now you can watch all Midwest Conference competitions and home Prairie Fire football, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball games live on your computer, free of charge, on Midwest Conference TV (MWCTV). Visit the Prairie Fire athletic Web site for the direct link to MWCTV.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) recently wrote to college presidents in Illinois asking for comments on how to improve college graduation rates and what changes Congress could make in federal policy to help this effort. With the help of several folks at Knox, President Taylor prepared a response to Senator Durbin that highlights Knox's graduation rates, mission, and educational program, as well as ways Congress might improve federal education policy. Read President Taylor's letter.

Students in Entomology Class Prowl for Bugs

Several Knox students, equipped with mesh nets and collection jars, undertook a mission this year to catch as many varieties of creeping, flying, and swimming insects as they could. To fulfill a requirement of Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Mathys Meyer '99's spring term class, Biology 395--Entomology, students captured dozens of bugs, identified them, and assembled them into a collection. "We're just trying to learn the process of being in the field and collecting insects," said Cheyenne Cortez-Faupel '10, a biology and French major from Reno, Nevada. "It's a lot different to learn by doing it. That's the thing I like best about this course." Learn more about the class.

Starting Dates for Fall Term 2010

The starting dates for fall term 2010 have changed. They are as follows:

Students Learn Lessons, Create Community at Green Oaks

This spring, a dozen Knox College students shared an unusual classroom and living space at the College's Green Oaks Biological Field Station, a 704-acre property near Dahinda, Illinois. Students gained skills in identifying plants, restoring the prairie, and working together as members of a community. "It's a really great environment for learning," said Julia Sievert '12, an environmental studies major from Seattle, Washington. As participants in Green Oaks Term, Sievert and other students made themselves at home in the refurbished but rustic Schurr Hall, where they rotated cooking, cleaning, and dishwashing duties as well as taking interdisciplinary classes in natural history, art, and anthropology-sociology -- each specifically designed to be taught at Green Oaks. Learn more about Green Oaks Term.

Four Students Inducted into Scientific Honor Society

Four Knox College students have been inducted as associate members into Sigma Xi, the international scientific honor society. They are Corinne Butzen '10 of Libertyville, Illinois, Akina Nagata '10 of Tokyo, Japan, Tara Orech '11 of Saint Charles, Illinois, and Angela Zinn '10 of Topeka, Kansas. Read more about the students.

Student Blogs About Experience at Disney College

Kelsey Ingle '11 is spending this summer and the fall term at Walt Disney World in Orlando as part of the Disney College Program. She is writing a blog about her experience. Read the blog.

Alumni News

Two Knox Alumni Named Trustees

Two Knox alumni, Hari Ramanan '00 and Erica Jaffe '08, have been elected to the Knox College Board of Trustees. Ramanan earned his bachelor's degree at Knox in economics and mathematics, graduating magna cum laude, with College Honors in mathematical finance. He works at Eminence Capital LLC, New York, where he co-manages the firm's European and emerging market investments. Jaffe is a consultant with Navigant Consulting, Chicago. She was elected to a four-year term as the Board's Young Alumni Trustee. Read more about Ramanan and Jaffe.

Alumni Notes

Though her feelings about her hometown are complex, world renowned surrealist artist Dorothea Tanning '32, who turns 100 this month, has been strongly influenced by her childhood and college years in Galesburg. Read more in The Register-Mail.

John Podesta '71 was a guest eater on "Top Chef" last month and confesses to being a "foodie." Watch the video.

Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World by Tad Daley '78 was released in May 2010 from Rutgers University Press and is about the contemporary nuclear weapons peril, the vision of nuclear weapons abolition, and plausible futures by which we might actually bring it about. "Apocalypse Never is an important and path-breaking book," says John Podesta '71. Read more about the book.

Daniel Prieto '07 received the Illinois Science Teachers Association New Teacher of the Year award. Prieto is a junior high and high school science teacher in the Cissna Park School District. Read more about Prieto.

Elizabeth Beadle '09, a second-year University of Iowa law student, is spending the summer volunteering in a divorce clinic that assists pro se divorce filers and in a County Attorney Payment Program, which helps people who have lost their driver's license set up repayment plans. Read more about her hands-on law training.

Faculty & Staff News

Debra Southern Named Dean of Students

Knox College has appointed Debra A. Southern to the position of dean of students. She succeeds Xavier Romano, who resigned in June. Southern previously served as associate dean of students. Southern came to Knox in 2000 and joined the Office of Student Development as assistant dean of students in 2001. Before coming to Knox she was assistant dean of students and director of residence life at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa. Learn more about Southern.

New Assistant Athletic Director to Focus on New Booster Club

The Knox College Athletic Department is bringing a marketing and promotions expert on board who will help launch some new and exciting initiatives, including the creation of a new booster club. Harold Watson, who served the past two years as the assistant director of marketing, promotions, and events at the University of Hartford -- an NCAA Division I school -- has been named to the new position of assistant athletic director for marketing and external relations. Learn more about Watson and the new position.

In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Kenneth R. Pahel

Kenneth R. Pahel, professor emeritus of philosophy at Knox College, died July 18. He was 75. Pahel taught at Knox from 1967 to 1999, including three terms as chair of the philosophy department. His teaching and research focused on ethics. "Professor Pahel was known as a wonderful teacher who broadened his expertise to include eastern philosophy in response to student interest," said President Roger Taylor '63. "He also embraced other disciplines, such as medicine, business, and law, and included them in his ethics courses." Learn more about Pahel.

Faculty & Staff Notes

The article "Pelagie Faribault's Island: Property & Marriage in Dakota Country" by Catherine Denial, assistant professor of history, appeared in the summer 2010 issue of Minnesota History, the quarterly journal published by the Minnesota Historical Society. At their June meeting, the Galesburg Rotary Club awarded the Four Avenues of Service Award to Mike Godsil '76, instructor in art, for his exemplary service. Only one Rotarian is recognized with this award each year. Godsil, who has been a member of the club since 1988, has distinguished himself in service to the Galesburg Rotary Club, to his vocation, to the community, and to Rotary International.